Alexandra Brewis Slade (born 1965) is a New Zealand-American anthropologist and professor who studies how health reflects the interaction of human biology and culture. as well as an advocate for a reduction in global health stigma.

Career

Brewis Slade is a President's Professor at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in t ...

and an elected fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsi ...

. She founded ASU's Center for Global Health, and designed and launched (in 2008) the first and largest undergraduate global health degree in the United States. She was Director of ASU's

School of Human Evolution and Social Change The Industrial Arts Building on the Arizona State University campus in Tempe, Arizona, later known as the Anthropology Building and now known as the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, was built in 1914. It was listed on the National Regi ...

from 2009-2017. In 2017 the School of Human Evolution and Social Change was ranked #1 in anthropology in the US for research scale and #1 in the US (#4 in the world) for research impact. She also served as an Associate Vice President for Social Sciences as ASU moved from #15 to #4 ranking nationally in social science research expenditures. Brewis Slade has served as president of the

Human Biology Association The Human Biology Association (HBA), established as the Human Biology Council in 1973, is a scientific and nonprofit organization for the promotion of studies in human biology. It is headquartered at Washington, D.C., US. Its official journal ''Am ...

Education

Brewis Slade's schooling was at

St Cuthbert's College, Auckland St Cuthbert's College is a private (independent) Presbyterian-based day and boarding school for girls aged 4 to 18 (Years 0 to 13), located in Epsom, Auckland, New Zealand. The school was established in 1915 and has a roll of approximately 1 ...

and

Selwyn College, Auckland Selwyn College is a co-educational state secondary school in Kohimarama, Auckland, New Zealand. History Selwyn College was built in 1956 to service Auckland's rapidly growing suburban sprawl during the post-war population boom and newly de ...

. She earned her anthropology B.A at

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn ...

in 1985, her M.A. there in 1989, and her Ph.D from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. ...

in 1992. Her postdoctoral training in demography was at Brown University.

Research

Her research investigates how human culture and biology interact to produce disease and suffering, and what can be done about it. Brewis Slade has conducted anthropological field research in the Pacific islands, the Americas, Africa, and the Caribbean, and published extensively on the human dimensions of obesity and water insecurity. In 2011, her research demonstrating the rapid globalization of negative views toward obesity was covered on the Front page of

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

. Committed to the application of social science research for public good, she writes and lectures on how to improve the impacts of international development work through anthropological methods, and on strategies for recognizing and reducing stigma in global health practice.

Selected books

*Brewis, A. and A. Wutich. 2019. ''Lazy, Crazy, and Disgusting: Stigma and the Undoing of Global Health''. Johns Hopkins University Press. Winner, Carol R Ember Book Prize; Winner, Human Biology Association Book Award; Finalist, Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness Book Prize. *Brewis, A. 2011. ''Obesity: Cultural and Biocultural Perspectives''. Rutgers University Press. *Brewis, A. 1996. ''Lives on the Line: Women and Ecology on a Pacific Atoll''. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brewis Slade, Alexandra 1965 births Living people Date of birth missing (living people) Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Arizona State University faculty University of Auckland alumni University of Arizona alumni New Zealand anthropologists New Zealand women anthropologists American anthropologists American women anthropologists Cultural anthropologists American women academics 21st-century American women